Seko Logistics commercial director Justin Irvine outlines five eCommerce logistics trends in Australia.
Go Global - Cross Border
Do not be scared to take your brand global! It really is not as hard as people make out and there are some massive markets that you can enter cost effectively and quickly with little, to no compliance/customs issues.
New Zealand can be delivered to next day from most Australia capital cities, and with a high threshold, it is an easy entry point to 4 million new consumers.
Delivery to New Zealand is often cheaper than delivery from one state to another within Australia! The USA can be fulfilled on standard services from Australia in as little as three to four business days, and with a population of 323 million people, you only have to get it a little bit right and you are seriously in business!
If you are moving reasonable volumes overseas, you will most likely need a couple of delivery providers, because despite what is said one company can not be all things to all people in this world of ecommerce logistics. Work with experts on your core lanes that you want to develop, the results will speak for themselves.
eCommerce Express
With the much spoken about Millennial’s and Generation Z taking over as primary purchasers of online fashion, it has brought a shift in delivery expectation.
To create loyalty and repeat shopping, these new generations of customers want their goods to them faster than ever before. The shift to next day, same day, next three hours, has all become the standard expectations of the new generations.
And lets be honest the impending start of in country delivery by Amazon, whether it be this year or next on prime style services, having these options available to your customers ensures you have the best possible delivery experience and the journey that will create long term, repeat buyers.
Marketplace
Currently the buzz word in ecommerce! With Amazon entering the market every major online retailer has looked to create their own marketplace offering over the past 12-24 months.
In conjunction with the traditional players such as eBay, Trademe and Amazon itself, opportunities to embrace new sets of eyes, in new countries is something that should be investigated and promoted internally as quickly as possible. Zalando, Lazada, and ASOS Marketplace are all regional and global powerhouses that will allow you to promote your brand in an environment that supports your brand image.
Customer acquisition and more eyes through utilising their superior SEO are two big reasons why either supporting existing major tradelanes, or entering reasonably risk free into new regions will have substantial benefits to your business.
Easy Global Returns
Returns in 2016 equated to nearly 30% of US$ 1.86 Trillion in global online retail sales.
Our good friend at NORA, Paul Greenberg coined a phrase – “The world they say is flat, and only getting flatter”. Never has it been more true when it comes to best in practice with returns. Customers want to be able to return parcels easily to a local returns point in country. Keeping costs down and providing them with tracking so they can keep an eye on the progress of their parcel back to a local hub.
In country refund processing is the new standard, and you need to work with someone that at least gives you regional solutions to this effect.
Returns has always been vindicated as the devil, however these days if you are charging customers for returns, you are now in a position to monetise those returns. We have enabled our customers to do this and are currently crediting our customers for returns costs, so now returns is a revenue generating process, abit of a change in everyone’s thinking!
Delivery Choices
These days you really need to offer up at least two options to every country to meet consumer expectations.
Domestically in Australia here are a number of very good delivery solution providers that are able to offer you cheap and cheerful, through to next three hour delivery within same city.
Understand who your customers are, and what they want. Refreshingly, Millenials are happy to pay for express and upgraded deliver options, so don’t be scared to implement these, or at least AB test them to see how you go. Internationally you should be looking at two service levels again, unless one service is able meet your needs on speed and price.